Sikhs Set Up Free Bakery Near War Zone to Feed Fleeing Syrians

Sikhs are taking one of their traditions of religious hospitality to one of the most inhospitable places on Earth — five miles from the Syrian border in refugee camps for people fleeing that country’s civil war.

The UK group, Langar Aid, an organization that provides food and water to people in need, has set up a bakery that currently feeds 14,000 people a day.

The group takes its name from the langar in the Sikh religion, a large common kitchen where food is served free to all visitors, regardless of religion or background. Langars are typically found at Sikh place of worship, but wherever Sikhs are, they have established the free kitchens open to all.

Volunteers have been feeding distressed people for over a year now, reports the Times of India.

The volunteers had to strip down the traditional langar model and focus solely as a bakery due to the small quantities of food that can make it through to the Kurdish region.

However, in recent months, more support has been pouring in from around Europe, which could allow them to broaden their scope.

Most of the volunteers with Langar Aid, an extension of UK charity Khalsa Aid, are from Europe, with ancestors from the northern India’s Punjabi region.

In another inspiring show of compassion in the region, a young Turkish couple wanted to celebrate their wedding day by bringing happiness to some of the refugees who have fled Syria since the outbreak of the civil war four years ago. Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat, who married recently in a province near the Syrian border, pooled the money they got from friends and family and used it to serve a meal to 4000 Syrian refugees.